The debates over its efficacy or the side effects notwithstanding, liposuction continues to remain a favorite with many cellulite affected people for its long-lasting – albeit costlier results.
About Liposuction
Liposuction was first launched in Europe in the 1970s with the basic idea of using it for cosmetic surgery cases. Employing plastic surgery in conjunction with suction to great effect, liposuction can remove the swollen, fatty tissues, which are normally associated with adverse skin conditions including cellulite. Liposuction can assume different forms of surgical procedures such as internal and external as well as dry, wet and tumescent methods.
The basic liposuction techniques underwent an immense change in the late 1980s when a Californian dermatologic surgeon, Jeffrey Klein remodeled the technique and called it tumescent liposuction. The advantage of this new form of liposuction needed only local anesthetics and vasoconstrictors for performing the surgical operations. In addition, the amount of blood loss and instances of bruising were far less in tumescent technique in comparison to other methods.
In subsequent times the liposuction technique has been modified significantly making it a safer and effective alternative cosmetic surgery procedure for cellulite. The effectiveness of the procedure in painlessly removing fat – without the need of administering general anesthesia in some advanced techniques such as tumescent liposuction. – has also made liposuction an accepted method for treatment of cellulite all over the world.
Liposuction for Cellulite
The first step in the liposuction procedure is to inject an anesthetic fluid into the cellulite affected fatty tissue. The special solution contains epinephrine (that provisionally constricts the capillaries to reduce bleeding) and lidocaine, a synthetic crystalline powder that acts as a local anesthetic. The fluid also contains a swelling agent that makes the cellulite-affected tissue tumescent (swollen) enough to facilitate easy removal of the superficial fat without adversely affecting the adjacent skin or tissues. Of late, a tiny amount of triamcinolone – an anti-inflammatory drug – is being added to the special solution to alleviate postoperative soreness in people operated for their cellulite.
Immediately after the induction of the tumescent fluid, an ultrasonic gadget is introduced to apply sound waves that melt away the now bloated and softened fat. The almost liquefied fat is then suctioned out by a cannula – a flexible steel tube custom-made for this purpose.
Advantage Vs Drawbacks
- Use of liposuction for reduction of cellulite fat and the connective tissues is relatively more useful for younger persons. In elderly people, however, this cosmetic procedure is known to have caused reappearance of cellulite dimpling on the skin, subsequent to surgery.
- Liposuction can be fairly effective for removal of small pockets of fats (say, up to 10 lbs) that do not respond favorably to dieting or physical exercises. The procedure is not as effective for larger volumes of fat, which may be rare in Cases of Cellulite.
- Ultrasound assisted liposuction has been found to be more suitable for body contouring than for effective cellulite reduction.
- Even though cellulite removal achieved through liposuction is longer-lasting than many contemporary methods of anti-cellulite treatment, the cost of the surgery is certainly higher. (The total cost of lipo suction surgery – assuming cellulite affected areas include the hips, buttock and thighs – can go as high as $9000.)
It is rather apparent that liposuction has its own positive as well as negative points so far as in its effectiveness in the surgery of cellulite is concerned. . One should make a systematic analysis of these points and also of the merits and demerits of various liposuction techniques to find the best alternative to treat a cellulite condition.
